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Mark Armstrong is one of Ireland ’s top conductors with immense experience both on the concert platform and in the recording studio. He has played with and conducted all of Ireland’s top ensembles, choirs and bands – National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Irish Film Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Baroque Orchestra of Ireland, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Opera Theatre Company, Irish Youth Wind Ensemble, RTÉ Chamber Choir, National Chamber Choir, RTÉ CÓR NA n-ÓG and RTÉ Philharmonic Choir. Mark is currently Musical Director of Tallaght Choral Society and the Army No.1 Band.
Celebrating 21 years since he first took the conductor's rostrum of the National Concert Hall, Mark Armstrong led from the front in a highly charged and memorable account of Verdi's Requiem. The impressively unified contributions of more than 180 newly convened voices seemed to stem not from assiduous drilling or grooming, but rather from Armstrong's sure command of the music's emotional architecture and his absolute confidence that the chorus would respond to it. Whether plumbing depths of eternal uncertainty, or soaring to heights of terror, their singing retained a natural technical assurance that met the score's every extreme demand. ..............there was constant alertness to Armstrong's fine balance of discipline and flexibility. In that ultimate musical wake- up call, the Tuba mirum, the brass playing was sensational. (RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Liverpool Welsh Choral Union Tallaght Choral Society) Andrew Johnstone - Irish Times May 2006...
'Guest conductor Mark Armstrong was sympathetic to the work's difficulties, and tackled them head on. [Culwick Choral Society Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem]...[the choir] were always alert to Armstrong's carefully timed gestures of encouragement. As you'd expect from Armstrong, who is the conductor of the Army No 1 Band, the wind playing was well coordinated both in the Requiem and in the ... Haydn Variations. With two scores so rich in wood and brass combinations, this was a notable strength in a strong concert'. Andrew Johnstone - Irish Times May 2005...
'The sense of internal illumination, of individual lines being controlled by independent musical intelligence, contributed strongly to a sense, altogether too rare in the performances of large amateur choirs in Ireland, that these singers had real freedom of expression in this performance (Elijah - Mendelssohn). They conveyed a real and sometimes thrilling sense of mastery, and they were under the command of someone who knew exactly what he wanted to do with it'. Michael Dervan - Irish Times January 2004...
'The conductor was Mark Armstrong whose handling of this all-English programme showed a subtle yet firm grip on how to get the best from [this] music.....The RTÉ Concert orchestra responded suitably to his precise shaping and timing via well scaled expression.......a winner, full of character'. Martin Adams - Irish Times 12 August 2004...
'Mark Armstrong's conducting produced natural shaping and an impression that the music was being allowed to speak for itself. That was one of the strengths in Mozart's Symphony No.38 'Prague''. The singing [of Tallaght Choral Society] was impressive in its rhythmic vitality, clarity with words and control of dynamics. Everyone knew the music well and knew what was being asked of them.' Martin Adams - Irish Times January 2003...
'Mark Armstrong directed the fine string quartet, harp/piano accompaniment
with skill and sympathy'. Belfast Telegraph
'Mark Armstrong making his opera debut as conductor kept everything
moving along brilliantly'. Tom Collins - The Irish News
'The orchestra was at its best in the Brandenburg Concerto, and the conductor not only chose excellent speeds, but kept the music tautly alive'. Douglas Sealy - Irish Times
'Mark Armstrong conducted a nicely shaped performance which found
the Irish Chamber Orchestra seductively elegant'. Pat O'Kelly - Irish Press
John Allen - Irish Times
'Dun Laoghaire Choral Society under conductor Mark Armstrong brought the necessary strength and solidity. Although it was growing cold outside the NCH on Saturday, the music prolonged the warmth of the spring afternoon'. Douglas Sealy - Irish Times
'Mark Armstrong has created an excellently sensitive reduction of
the score and his 10-piece orchestra is never allowed to sink into
Palm Court Schmaltz. He also drew splendid singing from his performers
in this quite tricky vocal score'. Ian Fox - Sunday Tribune
'I do not recall such a beautiful and ideally performed Byrd Mass...........ideally balanced and beautifully performed. Mark Armstrong showed himself to be a very fine and musical choir trainer and conductor and the whole concert was something to lift one's spirits'. Charles Acton - Irish Times
'Thanks to a complete certainty in the soprano line and devoted singing by the rest, these were exciting performances'. Charles Acton - Irish Times |
